Torpedownia

Abandoned WWII torpedo testing station, half a kilometre offshore

The Torpedownia is the most photographed ruin on the Polish coast — two boxy concrete platforms standing about 300 m offshore between Babie Doły and Mechelinki, the remains of a 1942 German Kriegsmarine torpedo testing station. The connecting catwalk is gone; the platforms are slowly being undercut by the Baltic.

You cannot get on them — they are unsafe and posted off-limits — but the view from the beach, particularly in storm light, is striking. A short walk along the sand from the Babie Doły suburban-train station. Add a half-hour onto a Kępa Redłowska / Orłowo walk if you have come this far.

things to do sight
A story
Built by Nazi Germany in 1942 as the Toplitzsee-style test station for the new T5 acoustic torpedo, the platform fired more than 4,000 test rounds during the war. The Soviets blew up the connecting catwalk in 1945; what remains is two concrete platforms standing in the surf, slowly being eaten by it.